There was a sudden rush to refocus everything on the Princess of Wales in recent days. It’s exactly what I said last week – after the Duchess of Sussex rejoined social media and the Netflix trailer for With Love, Meghan dropped, suddenly the royalists were screaming “don’t forget about Caaaaatheriiiine!!” That’s a huge part of it, although we also get an annual state-of-Kate update in January because of her birthday, January 9th. In 2022, she went way overboard for her 40th birthday, commissioning wall-to-wall coverage about how she walks on water and she is the best, most humble and most perfect princess ever. In subsequent birthday briefings, she’s had to reel it in. This year’s birthday keenery comes via Becky English at the Mail, who must have gotten a nice, long sit-down briefing from Carole and the courtiers. Some highlights:

Kate’s birthday plans: Now, as she prepares to celebrate her 43rd birthday on Thursday – quietly with family and friends (her children start back at school the day before) – there will be much for the Princess to process, as well as to be thankful for. She has, I am told, returned to doing the school drop-off, attending sports fixtures, taking the children to play dates and tennis lessons and even going back to the gym to build up her strength.

Kate’s new course: Her ordeal over the past 12 months has also inspired Catherine (and, of course, William) to steer a new course, I understand, in 2025 and beyond – one that puts greater emphasis on balancing the importance of their family with the family. That’s not to suggest either are any less committed to their public duties, and the number of public engagements we see from here on will continue to slowly increase. It’s just that the Princess simply won’t be going back to work in the same way as before, insiders say.

Kate’s medical drama: ‘It’s impossible to go through that kind of trauma and not to be changed as a person,’ friends agree. And while the Princess may be in a significantly more privileged position than many cancer patients in terms of her care and financial security, a well-placed source stresses: ‘There’s no hierarchy on the sheer terror of being told you have cancer, particularly when you have a young family you need to protect.’

Kate won’t be a full-time royal for a while: All this is why, even though she is making great strides in her recovery, we shouldn’t expect to see the Princess returning to full-time royal duties any time soon, I have been told by multiple insiders. A royal source confirms: ‘There is no huge reset button that’s going to be hit in January. What we will actually see is a slow continuation of the Princess balancing her recovery and her public-facing duties, as she outlined back in September [when she warned her recovery was still ongoing despite having completed her chemotherapy]. Cancer impacts on your perspective, and what you have seen in the decisions they have made over the last year is that family and their children continue to be at the centre of their universe. Both Their Royal Highnesses have a strong commitment to duty, service and using their platform for good. But what they are working on is ways they can balance themselves as parents with being the Prince and Princess of Wales.’

So what are the plans? In the Princess’s case, as well as a slow return to full-time public duties, there are no plans – yet – for any full-scale foreign royal tour – although it is not denied she may join her husband on one short trip, should she feel up to it. For his part, William will undertake a ‘handful’ of solo foreign visits in the coming months, another sign of Catherine’s progress. Notably, however, they are likely to be shorter two- or three-day visits (until his next big Earthshot event in South America in November), particularly in comparison with the long tours of yesteryear. ‘Everyone is adjusting the dial,’ explains a source, meaning the Waleses will strive to not be away from home extensively.

More private meetings: As for Catherine, her ‘early years’ work – her campaign to promote the importance of the first five years of a child’s development – is still her ‘number one’ priority and will continue to be a key theme of everything she does. Although we may not see her in public as much as we did before for the foreseeable future, there is no doubt that she is still very much involved behind the scenes and working on long-term projects. ‘She continues to work closely with her team at Kensington Palace and the Centre for Early Childhood’, a source adds.

She’ll appear at the big events: She is also expected to attend key royal events such as Trooping The Colour and The Cenotaph as she did last year, for example. ‘It’s about pace,’ a source adds. ‘I think she would also prefer to confirm only when she is certain she can attend events, rather than get anyone’s hopes up and then have to pull out.’

The Waleses hired more media people after the Mother’s Day photo mess: This approach is also in part due to the unedifying and, at times, downright cruel social media and public commentary around her illness in the first half of last year when, in the words of one insider, ‘the world just went mad’. It upset – and angered – the couple more than many realise. And it has made them even more determined to continue to tell ‘their story on their own terms’. As a result, they have massively beefed up their own media team, employing in-house videographers and photographers and working with freelance filmmakers such as Will Warr (who shot the much- talked-about family video released in September).

[From The Daily Mail]

From March 2024 onwards, the strategy employed was “kick the can down the road” over and over. But Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace learned a series of valuable lessons, lessons which we can see playing out right now. The “Missing Princess” storyline did serious damage to the institution, as did the manipulated, palace-released photo which caused an international sh-tstorm. They learned that a “princess going MIA for months” is not acceptable to the public, but once proof-of-life was established, however questionable, people bought it and moved on. Basically, they learned that as long as they produce Kate once every few months, most people accept it and don’t ask for much more. There was a deal struck at some point in 2024, and this is the deal. Kate can disappear for weeks, even months at a time, but she’ll show up every so often and a cover story has been produced which the royal reporters dutifully fluff up rather than examine. Here’s one of my big questions though: will Kate ever be allowed to go to a “tiara event” again as Princess of Wales?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.